Welcome to the home of price gouging

I again find it amazing that Dixon business owners want us to “shop locally.” If they really wanted us to shop in Dixon, they would talk with local service station owners about price gouging.

Last week, Dixon gasoline prices went up 30 to 40 cents a gallon. LaSalle-Peru on Interstate 80 was 40 cents lower. My old home town of Sacramento, Calif., was 40 cents cheaper than Dixon.

I lived in California 55 years and never once saw gas go up 30 to 40 cents in one day. Moreover, I have never seen virtually every station in a town the same exact price.

I watch Bloomberg Television every morning. In the past year, oil/gas commodity prices have never been at a level that would support Dixon’s prices.

Dixon is a captive audience, and the only other gas is Sterling, which generally follows suit. Go out of Lee and Whiteside counties and you get normal gas fluctuations – not in Dixon.

It makes no sense that every station is the same price within seconds of each other.

With the aforementioned in mind, I have been preparing a spread sheet and a letter to the Illinois attorney general asking for a review of Dixon’s station pricing and the potential for price fixing.

If you don’t believe my accusations, get the iPhone and Android app called “Gas Buddy.” It gives you up-to-date pricing anywhere in the country, and no place has price fluctuations like the local area.

So, local business, if you want us to shop locally and pay your exorbitant prices, talk to your gas stations, or better yet, let the attorney general do it for us.